The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the FRED Weekend Shopping Guide – your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…
(Please support FRED by using the links below to make any impulse purchases – it helps to keep us going…)
Many folks are enamored with Funko’s Pop figures, but I’ve always found their stylistic sameness and beady Coraline eyes to be both boring and disturbing. For my money, I’ll go with the Q-Figs from Quantum Mechanix ($14.95 SRP each). Not only are the stylization of the designs infinitely more appealing to me, but they also allow for much more dynamic poses. These are beautiful pieces that look perfect on a desk or shelf. Just take a gander at the cross-section of pieces below, from Spider-Man’s mid-photo street lamp dangle to Mr. Freeze’s frustrated attempt to eat an ice cream cone, these are just spectacularly fun. Come on, look at how dynamic that Harry Potter is! I can’t wait to see where this line goes from here… And I hope some classic-costumed members of the Fantastic Four – and a Doctor Doom! – are in the offing soon.
I continue to follow Game Of Thrones and a I stuck through an increasingly-baffling Westworld, but the real joy of the HBO year is the one-two return of Veep & Silicon Valley (HBO, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.99 SRP each), which also means the welcome arrival of their respective previous season box sets just before the new seasons hit. And considering the density of the writing on both, it’s quite enjoyable to have a refresher binge. While Silicon Valley only sports some deleted scenes, Veep packs on both deleted scenes and audio commentaries, every one of which is worth a listen.
Over the course of 25 volumes released over the past 13 years, Fantagraphics has done a truly incredible job presenting the complete 50-year run of Charles Schulz’s Peanuts. It was no small amount of surprise and delight that they tacked on a 26th volume of The Complete Peanuts (Fantagraphics, $29.99 SRP), which gathers together rare comics, advertising art, and drawings produced during the strip’s half-century run. A lovely end for a brilliant presentation of a legendary strip.
When Thinkgeek designs products in-house, it’s a fair bet that the final result will be something you didn’t even know you wanted until you saw it, and then you must absolutely have it. Case in point are a pair of cookery items sure to make the kid – or adult – enamored with all things Pokemon absolutely giddy. Have a party coming up? Use the Pikachu Cake Pan (Thinkgeek, $19.99) to bake an electrifying treat. Or, if you’ve come in from a hit day of wandering the wastelands to fill out your Pokedex in Pokemon Go, chill your drink with ice cubes made from a Pikachu Silicon Mold (Thinkgeek, $9.99). See? How can you resist ’em!
Generational nostalgia is a linear beast, which means everything will eventually get its moment, which brings us to the release of the complete first and second season of Nickelodeon’s beloved Rugrats (Nickelodeon, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP each). The shows have never looked better on home video, and while there are sadly no bonus features to speak of, it’s nice to have them available.
The plate may now be empty, but there was once a glorious confection of a British import that you can savor again with the release of The Great British Baking Show: Seasons 1-3 (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP each). While the future holds a radically different program, we can still taste the sweetness of the original version.
I’m a sucker for ephemera books – you know, the kind that feature reproductions of rare historical materials – and in their eternal quest for new revenue streams, we get Monty Python’s Flying Circus: Hidden Treasures (Abrams, $40 SRP), featuring tons of the aforementioned ephemera to delight fans.
Sure, there’s a fair bit of Saturday Night Fever (Paramount, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$16.99 SRP), but the remastered director’s cut proves that the aspirational tale remains timeless and Travolta’s performance is still a career-defining marvel. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, and a deleted scene.
While I’m not particularly enthusiastic about Pixar’s vehicular franchise, I very much adore the Art Of books that the company does with the fine folks at Chronicle, the latest of which is The Art Of Cars 3 (Chronicle Books, $40 SRP). As usual, it’s positively packed with concept art and behind-the-scenes insight.
In an age where facts are being assailed and history denied, now more than ever we need the objective, quality programming being produced by PBS. You can do that by catching up on the scores of excellent documentary and news programs they’re releasing on home video. For the politically and socially minded, there’s Frontline: Divided States Of America (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP) about the polarization in the U.S., a sobering look at the rise of 45 in Frontline: President Trump (PBS, Bot Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP), Frontline: Battle For Iraq/Hunting ISIS (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP), the battle against the film The Birth Of A Nation in Birth Of A Movement (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP), The Talk: Race In America (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP), John Lewis: Get In The Way (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP), American Experience: Ruby Ridge (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP), and the history of modern martial justice in Dead Reckoning (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP). For the science-minded, you’ve got storms galore in Wild Weather (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP), plant behavior in Plants Behaving Badly (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP), engineering the Ultimate Cruise Ship (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP), Nova: Search For The Super Battery (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP), the Himalayan archeological mysteries in Nova: Secrets Of The Sky Tombs (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP), the applied science of Nova: The Origami Revolution (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP), and the fascinating medical advances of Military Medicine (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP).
Sketch comedy is hard to do, and when you set the bar as high as Amy Schumer had with the first three seasons of Inside Amy Schumer (Comedy Central, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP), not hitting that high-water mark is more easily noticed. That’s the case with the often strained but still funny 4th season. Bonus materials include a writers room featurette and outtakes.
The 1957 police drama Decoy (Film Chest Media, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP) was significant for a trio of firsts – the first police drama to shoot in NYC, the first to feature a police woman as the main protagonist, and the first to feature stories based on real-life subjects. Starring Bevery Garland as Office Casey Jones, you can now rediscover this forgotten series via this set, featuring all 39 episodes.
The nicest thing I can say about Vin Diesel’s pet resurrection of a franchise, XXX: Return Of Xander Cage (Paramount, Rated PG-13, UltraHD 4K-$49.99 SRP), is that he’s really, really good as Groot in Guardians Of The Galaxy. As for this – I’m still trying to figure out who was asking for it, and why. I assume it was Vin. It was probably Vin. Bonus materials include featurettes and a gag reel.
There’s a lot of tension to be found in the drama of a diamond-dealing family dragged into the underworld in Ice (eOne, Not Rated, DVD-$40.99 SRP), but the real draw of watching the show is its cast, which features Donald Sutherland, Ray Winstone, and Jeremy Sisto. Bonus materials include featurettes and a music video.
There’s a lot of fun to be found in Warners new franchise push – DC Superhero Girls: Intergalactic Games (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP), which finds the female superheroes in friendly competition that runs afoul of a bevy of baddies. Bonus materials include 7 featurettes and a music video.
So there you have it… my humble suggestions for what to watch, listen to, play with, or waste money on this coming weekend. See ya next week…
-Ken Plume
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Patience has been rewarded for fans of Hayao Miyazaki, as his brilliant animated classic 
A cult cult classic, 
Leave it to Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman to do for the spy genre what they did for superheroes in X-Men: First Class by injecting a bit of vim and vigor into their adaptation of 
There’s a special kind of joy to be found when cracking open and becoming invested in a book a part of you knew always should have existed but finally does. 
Celebrate America’s birthday with the most comprehensive restoration and stunning presentation of a musical classic with the high definition debut of 
Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett, and Kevin Murphy return with a brand new batch of short form hilarity with 
He still lives in a pineapple under the sea, but 
Every month brings a new clutch of iconic films given the high definition treatment by movie mavens at Criterion, with June’s must-have titles being Terry Gilliam’s 
Over the past year, Paramount has been providing a boon to coompletionist fans of beloved TV shows by releasing complete series megasets from their rather deep catalogue of classics. The latest programs to get the uber-massive treatment are 
Another month brings another sterling entry in Disney’s remastered and expanded Legacy Collection of soundtrack re-releases, with the latest being the film that out a creatively and financially shaky post-war Disney studio back in the black, 1950’s 
I do enough traveling that I’m always drowning in cords and desperate to find the perfect combination of cords to streamline my terribly complicated existence. Thankfully, Thinkgeek has a pair of nifty items that have now made their way into my travel bag. First is the 
Existing in the period between the departure of William Hanna & Joe Barbera and the short run from the legendary Chuck Jones, 
Chris Vance returns as the titular high-octane deliveryman in the second season of 
Liam Neeson further cements his reputation as a man not to be trifled with in 
Inspector Edmund Reid (Matthew Macfadyen) continues his struggle to tackle the seedy underworld of Edwardian Whitechapel in the 3rd season of 
Listen, I wouldn’t have pined for them, but both Tarsem Singh’s 
The folks at Mill Creek open up the Columbia vaults for another batch of reasonably-priced catalogue releases, with James Mason & Helen Mirren in 
Get your reality fix this weekend with a pair of powerful documentaries, the first of which is director Robert Kenner’s 
I was wholly unaware that Joan Rivers hosted her own syndicated daytime talk show in the late 60s out of New York City, so it was with keen interest that I dove into 
Promoting the then-recent It’s Hard album, 
Finally getting a proper official release from the band’s archive, 
It’s a slight, toss-off little comedy, but 
No one will ever mistake it for Citizen Kane, but there’s a certain affable charm to David Spade’s performance as the titular schlub searching for his parents in 
Even though outside success means that the days of Adam, Blake, and Ders are probably numbered, enjoy the merry misadventures of 
Mash together the world’s most famous cat & mouse combo with the globe-trotting adventurer Jonny Quest and you get the direct-to-video original feature 
Keep the kiddies occupied over the long summer holidays with Nickelodeon’s 3-disc 
You find out that an asteroid is going to hit the Earth, and the end as we know it is in 3 weeks. What do you do? That’s the premise behind the heartfelt dramedy 
Thinkgeek time, wizard-wannabes! No wizard sport cosplay is complete without a pair of 
It’s a growing trend to create books packed with reproductions of ephemera, and you can add the Harry Potter film franchise to that list with the re-release of 
Supplement the original must-have collection with 
Many, many, many years ago, Henry Beard and the late Doug Kenney of The Harvard Lampoon decided that the time was right to pen a scathing parody of JRR Tolkien’s massive, sprawling, often meandering epic trilogy, calling their effort 
If you’ve ever been to a Disney theme park, you’ll know that nearly every single major attraction in the park – nearly since Disneyland first opened – has its very own promotional poster, which is very often a work of art unto itself. You can take a visual journey through these pieces in the oversized 
There have been many books prior, but 
I still can’t quite find a way to sum up exactly what 
You’d think Disney would take a page from Dreamworks and bring back their pantheon of characters for holiday-themed specials, but instead they’ve left it all to the other Big D with releases like 
I’m always delighted when an actual historical release manages to escape past the reality glut from The History Channel, which is why I enjoyed 
How about another trip to beautiful 
Created by Blake Edwards and featuring an iconic theme from the great Henry Mancini, it’s quite groovy to be able to pick up the complete series of 
It’s living in the shadow of the far more acclaimed Downton Abbey, but the BBC’s new take on 
I still can’t fathom the appeal of the Tinkerbell-starring Disney Fairies line of direct-to-video films, but there must be enough of an audience if they continue to crank them out – the latest being the feature-length 
We’re yet another step closer to completing the seemingly-infinite run of Roy Clarke’s 
If you’ve been steadily dropping a not-insubstantial amount of money on the massive Ultimate Editions of the Harry Potter films on Blu-Ray, you know that you don’t yet have the big sets for the final two Deathly Hallows films. To those fans, the absolutely gigantic 
I plan on doing some international traveling in the near future, and everyone I talk to who has done the same has warned to remember a decent power converter. Thankfully, Thinkgeek now offers the perfect solution – the 
Universal’s 100th anniversary celebration has proved to be a remarkably wonderful year for getting highly desired catalogue titles released in high definition, and the streak keeps going with fully remastered editions of classics like 
How can you not love a film from the artsy brains at Aardman Animation? You can’t. Which is why you’ll love their latest – 
The first season was a somewhat shaky, often off-putting affair, but the second season of 
I admit, I was one of the naysayers who looked at ABC’s attempt to milk the Disney fairytale library for a soapy primetime drama that was equal parts Buffy and Dark Shadows as a sure-fire failure, but 
After a debut season that arrived with a bang, the second season of 
It’s a little early for Halloween, but 
When you’ve got a title for a documentary like 
It’s probably for the best that the 4th season of 
The live action film was an abysmal mess, but there’s some fun to be had in 
Criterion rolls out another pair of classy films with a classy treatment – Whit Stillman’s 
Adding to the rich history of the BBC’s exploration of pre-history is 
It’s potentially disastrous when the day after taking his first hit, the high school valedictorian learns that his school will be giving its students a drug test. With his scholarship on the line, what’s a panicky kid to do but hatch a plan to get his entire school high so everyone fails. 
And while you’re picking up the DVD, why not pick up Frederik Wiedmann’s score to 
Charlie’s dead and Alan and Jake soon find a naked millionaire played by Ashton Kutcher replacing him in the awkward 9th season of 
It’s a shame that 
Like Ron Perlman? And Katey Sagal? And bikers? Then the complete fourth season of 
It’s taken a few years, but I may finally be coming around to 
After the awful Muppets, I find watching Jason Segel’s gurning to be difficult to take, so it’s lucky that 
A trio of HBO sitcoms ending their runs get their home video release all at the same time – 
It has been on the decline for years, but it was clearly evident during 
R.L. Stine continues his mission to traumatize children, a mission you can experience via the first two volumes of his new anthology series airing on the Hub network, 
I’m not exactly sure why the Turtle costumes in Saban’s 
The abysmal Cloverfield pretty much broke me of any desire to see another “found footage” flick, but 
If you’ve been champing at the bit to determine whether you’ll be sorted into Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin, you can find out whether you’ll be a hero or a zero with your very own 
I shouldn’t have to tell you that Reggie Watts is brilliant, but I suppose I just did. And since I did, I may as well tell you that his latest special/album, 
Really, the first one, starring Joe Don Baker, is the only one really worth watching, but if you’ve wanted to own the lot in high definition, you can now pick up 
Like Tommy Boy before it, we’re probably to a time, with its high definition release, that someone, somewhere probably considers the raunchy college kids 
It’s almost summer, which means it’s time to start thinking about how you’ll be spending all of those sunshiny days. One thing I’ll certainly be doing is penciling some NERF battles with my nephews, and I’m sure it comes as no surprise that there’s a clutch of new toys hitting shelves. So this summer, arm yourself with the water blasting 
It’s a position fraught with peril, but now you can name yourself Hand Of The King with your very own reproduction 
The excellent series of Music On Film books taking an in-depth look at remarkable aural cinema takes on Dr. Frankenfurter in the enjoyable 
How about a clutch of new TV on DVD titles for you? How about the Robert Urich in the first volume from the 3rd season of 
How do you compress 13.7 million years of Earth’s existence into one concise special? Seems like a tall task, but it’s one 
I’m Ken Plume, and soon you’ll be listening to “A Bit Of A Chat” with me, Ken Plume.
It’s a little slow-going at times and uneven, but the good of 
Are you steampunky? Have you ever wished you could wear a tiny little folding telescope on your ring finger? So you could feel all steampunky and adventurous and ingenious? Well, Thinkgeek brings you 
I’m sure it’s just a personal hang-up of mine, but I’m not much of a fan of Leonardo DiCaprio, especially as he’s somehow become the go-to guy for vintage biopics of egomaniacal men. The latest is Clint Eastwood’s otherwise nicely made 
Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson’s big Tintin film is about to hit home video, and the massive amounts of development and concept art that went into making it is presented in 
And speaking of incredible behind-the-scenes books, now that the massive 8-film series has wrapped, you can explore all of the cinematic magic that went into making JK Rowling’s boy wizard come to life with 
For years, Newmarket Press has been putting out some quite nice making-of and screenplay books for various films, and this Oscar season brings a pair of tomes from this year’s nominees. First up is 
I wasn’t expecting much, which is probably why I was pleasantly surprised by the working man’s revenge flick 
You can watch Tudors and French Cardinals all you want, but in Italy the power center also had a family name, and it’s that powerful dynasty that’s the subject of 
It’s no Shrek, which I see as a definite plus for spin-off film 
Fighting the nefarious likes of Simon Bar Sinister and Riff Raff, the dated though still fun cartoons featured in the 10-disc 
A pair of Showtime series are dropping their latest seasons with the arrival of post-prison new life in the Big Apple 
I was one of the many that was concerned the Harry Potter franchise would stumble and fall at the finish line, as it wrapped up J.K. Rowling’s sweeping tale with a two-part version of her final book. Thankfully, 
I’m a sucker for better portable electronics solutions, which is why I like the Quirky 
If you’ve ever known the cult joy of discovery in watching the likes of The Mighty Boosh and Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace and have yet to experience Matt Berry & Rich Fulcher’s 
You know Disney is clearly throwing their weight behind 3D releases of their catalogue when they drop four titles in a day, all of them upgraded to multi-disc definitive editions containing not only brand new 3D discs, but also the Blu-Ray, DVD, and digital discs. Really, this is the version to buy, even if you don’t yet have a 3D television set. So what films have dropped? You can get 
It’s a shame that they didn’t see fit to give it a proper restored release rather than an MOD Warner Archive Collection release, because 1934’s 
Often overlooked due to its flashier contemporaries like The Godfather, Francis Coppola’s 
While it’s not the 1935 film starring Charles Laughton as the overbearing Captain Bligh that I love so much, the high definition release of the 1962 version of 
One of those much-beloved flicks from my childhood, owing largely to dozens of captive-audience viewings on early cable TV, has arrived in high definition. Now I can see the cast of 
More of the Miramax catalogue makes its way to high definition with the release of the largely forgotten but worth seeing 
They’re not as well-polished as the theatrical shorts, but the cartoons contained in 
Warners has decided to drop a trio of festive holiday catalogue titles just in time for your cold winter viewing pleasure – the sequel 
They’re not revelatory tracks, but for Beatles completists, there’s always been a fascination with the tunes they recorded in the early 60’s with Tony Sheridan, which have been remastered in both mono and stereo form for the 
Intentionally crass comedy is a balancing act that either provides the highs of The Hangover and Bridesmaids or the lows of 
If you’ve ever wondered how the states comprising the United States got their various borders, loon no further than the History Channel program 
Even 25 years and numerous pop culture jokes later, David Lynch’s 
Up to a certain point, 
More classic Nickelodeon animation from the fine folks at Shout Factory arrives with 
Following on the heels of the incredible Citizen Kane presentation on Blu-Ray, another legendary piece of cinema gets a stunning delivery in high definition – William Wyler’s epic 
If you’re up to mischief, there’s no better way to manage it than with your very own 
Made on the cheap after the failure of Fantasia and on the eve the US’s entrance into the second World War, 
The remake looks 4 kinds of awful, so it’s good that we can go back and relive the 80’s charm of the original 
Every time I’ve heard a story about a lion in the suburbs, I’ve been curious about what other exotic – and dangerous – pets may be lurking in suburbia. Well, 
The kids and hipsters alike will want to snap up 
Set in the 1950’s, 
Yeah, I think it about time we finally get to meet the titular mother of 
If your kids are not quite old enough for Jack Sparrow but love all of the pirate material in Peter Pan, they’ll probably love 
If you’d like to see a “historical” dramatization with shaky history and an unpalatable agenda at work, look no further than 
Scholastic continues to produce their outstanding line of Storybook Treasures Read-Along DVD sets, with the latest must-have collections for anyone with a young reader in their life being 
It took me a second to realize the figure on the cover of 
For a long time, I’ve looked to the original DVD edition of Orson Welles’ legendary 
If you’d like to organize your life a bit more like Dolores Umbridge, you can leave yourselves reminders and declarations via the 
Oh, 
It’s by no means a perfect film, and doesn’t reach the level of the first Iron Man film, but 
Speaking of Marvel films, another admirable effort makes its way to home video – 
It’s been quite a few year since Rhino released what many consider to be the series’ finest episode, but Shout Factory has decided to turn their release of 
The arrival of another Dalek storyline from the classic Doctor Who archives is always most welcome, including the dastardly mutants’ first arrival in the Jon Pertwee years in 
I’m certainly not a member of the cult of 
Even over 25 years later, the Coen Brothers’ debut 
The 3rd season of 
Those gents over at the MOD MGM Limited Edition Collection are still churning out the catalogue titles, with the newest batch featuring Orson Welles in 
Continuing their stellar run of TV licensing, the fine folks at Shout Factory are releasing the first season of the groundbreaking 1970’s cop show 
While it’s nowhere near as polished as the most recent big-screen adventure, the 1992 
I think it’s about time for me to be quite plain in saying, as we come to the 7th season of 
You can certainly see a career ahead of him when you view the new high definition special edition of Wes Craven’s 
Try as I might, even three seasons in I still can’t get into 
I’m not much of a fan – no matter how many times I try – but I there are plenty who will eagerly devour 
Not content to let other studios ramp up their catalogue high definition releases, the folks at MGM have dropped another pair of much-requested titles with Dustin Hoffman in Sam Peckinpah’s 
The mild, inoffensive comedy of it all is nothing compared to the fact that the 8th season of 
Amanda Tapping and her crackerjack team of scientists continue to track down, study, and protect a whole new lot of off creatures in the complete third season of 
I’ve always been a fan of her witty, acerbic writing (and yes, her many film roles), so it’s a special treat that Carrie Fisher’s first live show is such a delight. 
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t the least bit worried that George RR. Martin might be unable to keep all of the plates of his sprawling Song Of Ice & Fire series spinning with the arrival of the long-awaited 5th installment, 
If you’re not comfortable with the whole touch-activated thing and desire a measure of accuracy, then you might want to try the 
You know, it says it’s from Nickelodeon studios, but I find it hard to believe that 
I usually find Robot Chicken an uneven affair, but they always seem to bring their A-game to their Star Wars specials. While 
Oh, great that these classic Doctor Who releases are coming so fast, as we get the terribly unappreciated William Hartnell old west adventure 
As the cinematic Harry Potter-verse draws to a close, there’s a lot of products both official and unofficial that are being released to capitalize on all of the wizardry hubbub, but one of the most fun unofficial items has to be 
It doesn’t seem that long since the last series, but the spooks at 
After 15 seasons, 
Oh, Russell Brand. I really do like you as a performer, and was a fan long before the rest of the US even knew who you were, but this remake of 
A consummate lawyer who works out of the back seat of his car, Matthew McConaughey finds himself in a violent predicament when he takes on the defense of a young man accused of rape and murder in the entirely watchable thriller 
The third season of 
Shout Factory has cranked up their high definition genre releases with a pair of must-have cheese flicks – Roger Corman’s Star Wars pastiche 
Regardless of which side you fall on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the film 
If you’ve got a big, beautiful high definition television, there’s nothing like kicking back and just drinking in the beauty of the IMAX films 
Are you behind on picking up the DVD releases of Nickelodeon’s most popular preschool shows? Well, now you can catch up with 
I know there are plenty of fans, but I’ve never been able to make it through an episode of 
By now, fans know what to expect from Warners deep, dense, impressively comprehensive Harry Potter Ultimate Editions, which means the wait for the rest of the series to get the treatment has sometimes been quite a hard one to bear. Thankfully, we’re nearing the end with the release of 
Although they seem to be agonizingly slow in adding to their offerings – and I wish they’d really dive into the action figure side of things – the fine folks at have imported a pair of Doctor Who board game for the whole family. 
The BBC has kicked their classic Doctor Who release schedule into overdrive, very rightly taking advantage of the modern show’s growing success in the US, as a new month brings a pair of new releases. From the 5th Doctor Peter Davison’s era we get 
I admit, I was one of those who didn’t exactly anticipate the Coen Brothers’ take on 
Like the two previous films before it, the third Jackass film gets a 
Being part of a family of New Yorkers, I’d always hear many a story of growing up in the 30s, 40s, & 50s, but I never hear much about the sort of games city kids of that period would play – which is why I found the documentary 
If you don’t use drugs or live in Brooklyn but want to experience what it must be like, check out 
I run hot and cold on Norm Macdonald, but there’s no denying he has a unique comedic voice, which is well-represented in his Comedy Central standup special 
Shout Factory continues to re-release formerly out-of-print Mystery Science Theater 3000 titles for those who may have missed them during their first go-round years and years ago – The latest two being 
I enjoyed the quirky charms of the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and am happy that the sequel, 
MGM is becoming even more prolific than Warners when it comes to releasing their MOD catalogue titles. The latest batch includes such obscure titles as Michael Moriarty & Yaphet Kotto in 
And if that weren’t enough, MGM has also dropped the adaptation of the Spike Milligan memoir 
It’s not The Hangover, but Ed Helms more than elevates the amiable comedy 
I enjoyed the heck out of the first season of his chat and music show, so I looked forward greatly to diving into 
While we’re waiting for another full season set, pass the time with the latest intermediary single-disc clutch of episodes – 
If you give a Twilight-y take to the story of 
I’m not sure I’m entirely comfortable with the premise of 
Every few years, Elvira rises and a new clutch of fun presentations of truly horrible horror flicks surfaces, the latest being a pair of double feature releases under the banner Elvira’s Movie Macabre – 
I’m all for animated adaptations of classic Marvel comic book stories, which is why having some of the unfortunate material written by Marvel pariah Brian Michael Bendis adapted first cuts deep. The latest is 
Give your 3D TV (or computer) a little bit of art and a little bit of not-so-art with 
Much like Curb Your Enthusiasm proved a radical, welcome breath of fresh air from the standard sitcom, so too does Louis CK’s 
There’s something eminently enjoyable in seeing Liam Neeson stretch his action star legs in 
In a welcome move, Shout Factory has recently acquired rights to produce full-season sets of classic Nickelodeon series, including the complete first season of 
Fans can now pick up the second volume of the first season of Nickelodeon’s inexplicably popular Monkees pastiche 
The problems with Michael Bay’s 
We’re now up to the 4th season of 
After the massive success of Sgt. Bilko, creator Nat Hiken moved on to birth another of my absolute favorite comedies, 
Want your geekiness to shine through even when the lights go out? Perhaps you should use a 
I was delighted when I heard that the producers of the Harry Potter film series would be splitting the 7th book into two movies, as it meant the rather sprawling conclusion of JK Rowling’s epic would be allowed to breathe, and breathe 
While we’re still missing Finding Nemo, the penultimate Pixar flick to make the transition to a high definition special edition is Brad Bird’s 
Warners continues to be tops when it comes to preserving and presenting their massive library, and it’s releases like the 10-disc 
If ever there were a film made to appeal to my good buddy Dana Snyder, it’s the documentary 
It’s probably for the best that 
I’m a sucker for the “Art Of” books that usually accompany the release of most animated films these days, and that extends to a pair of new releases that aficionados should add to their collection – 
It’s one of those cult favorites that belongs to a generation after mine, but I know its fans will be delighted by the new release of the complete 1st & 2nd seasons of 
Rather than abandon them as unfinished releases, Disney’s ABC arm thankfully decided to license some of their TV shows to the fine folks at Shout Factory to release, including the 5th season of 
Long out of print on DVD, the Richard Lester satire 
The original Ewing family saga wraps up with the release of the 
The 80’s were certainly an… odd time for sitcoms. In what other generation could we have 
I didn’t think I would like the new TRON film. The original was a childhood favorite, even though it’s not a terribly good flick, and everything I’d seen and heard about the sequel gave me a massive feeling of “meh”. Well, the sequel, while flawed, is entirely watchable, at times even good, even if it suffers the same kind of story malaise that affected its predecessor. You can get both films via the 5-disc 
We’re entering into the rainy season as spring begins to dawn, and what better way to pass the time than constructing a pair of Harry Potter LEGO sets – the wonderful 
You know what doesn’t hold up? The original 
While it’s not the complete season sets fans have been hoping for, at least 
While I still prefer its more oddball sequel, there’s still much charm in the original 
If you’re still breaking in your 3-D TV or computer and desperate for content with which to do so, a pair of films made for 3-D IMAX theaters are available for your exhibition pleasure – 
Another of those “must-have” classic musicals has made its way into the high definition realm with the arrival of the 40th anniversary edition of 
The massive Roger Corman collection coming out of Shout Factory gets a pair of new releases that amount to 5 more films, the first of which is the triple feature 
If you thought you had the complete run of Abbott & Costello’s theatrical flicks after getting that big Universal set a few years back, best think again, as the Warner Archive Collection has released a clutch of films the boys made for them, including 
The most I can say about 
The newest clutch of classic Doctor Who releases includes a special edition re-release of the much-requested – and actually pretty decent, despite what you might have heard – 1996 made-for-TV 
As a fanboy, you know you’re wont to get just about every doodad iteration of a favorite whatsit in existence, which is why I’m sure you’re likely to pick up the 
Periodically, the fine folks at Rifftrax gift us with another DVD-based collection of the short subjects that have been available for download over the past few months, which brings us 
Photography buffs will want to pick up 
When I saw Paranormal Activity, I didn’t leave the theater thinking “Franchise!”, but that was obviously on the minds of the executives, as we’ve now got Paranormal Activity 2 (Paramount, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), which introduces a new set of clueless people and adds a baby to the mix. The unrated edition features additional nutty footage.
It’s a shame the film doesn’t hang together better, because 
Film buffs will probably want to pick up the DVD debut of writer/director Elia Kazan’s epic 1963 immigrant tale 
Yes, it’s been 20 years since the release of 
The Warner Archive collection drops another pair of catalogue titles to their on-demand service, bringing forth the Cliff Robertson/Jane Fonda romcom 
Here’s 
It seems that I just really don’t like Katherine Heigl, which makes watching her star in the dramedy 
Thomas Jefferson was not only our 3rd president – He was also a pretty complicated man. You can find out just how complicated in the History Channel documentary 
Nickelodeon has done another of their theme releases pulling together episodes from a bunch of their shows, this time celebrating 
While my favorite remains The Great Dictator, there’s no denying that 
Kids love to spill drinks. I don’t for a minute think it’s an accident – I believe it’s all premeditated. You can undermine their evil plans with the 
Hot on the heels of the first season’s arrival comes the second season of 
Warner Bros. has done another spectacular restoration job on one of their catalogue gems, this time with the high definition edition of 1935’s 
As CGI and flash have come to dominate content in documentaries in recent years, there’s still something timeless and powerful in the direct, unvarnished simplicity of presentation in the seminal (and massive) 
Let us all take a holiday journey into the uncanny valley with Robert Zemeckis’s latest unfortunate excursion into motion capture awkwardness, 
A few years back, a rather unique and wonderful little animated series called Avatar: The Last Airbender debuted on Nickelodeon. It was full of adventure and populated by strong, interesting characters living in an expansive world and caught up in an epic story. Sadly, all of these wonderful elements were lost in translation to the live action 
While you’re busy waiting for the next season to come out on DVD, you can tide yourself over with 
Fully remastered, another holiday perennial makes is available this season with the release of Rankin Bass’s 
I’m still not exactly sure why the travesty that is Troll 2 has been gifted with a celebratory documentary, 
The books of Beverly Cleary were a favorite when I was a kid, and while some of the spirit has been toned down, there’s still some life in 
It’s not Blu-Ray, but 
Seeking to make the viewing experience a bit more interactive, Disney has developed the “Mickey Mote” accessory for use with their newest preschool DVD releases. Essentially, it’s a kid-friendly, Mickey Mouse-shaped remote that them to answer questions when in “Discovery Mode”. The first DVDs out of the gate – 
In March of 2010, musical theater’s best & brightest assembled to celebrate Stephen Sondheim’s 80th birthday, recorded for posterity on 
One of Nipsy Russell’s finest roles (and one of Diana Ross’s most age inappropriate) comes to high definition with the release of 
It’s an interesting score, to be sure, but I can’t help but feel that composer Alexandre Desplat is just marking time with his score to 
It’s about time a tribute was put together for one of the landmark comedians of the last 30 years, and 
How about a whole bunch of TV series wrapping up their DVD releases? You’ve got 
Let me be perfectly blunt – History Channel… If you continue to produce unsubstantiated dreck like 
Now that we’ve reached 
It’s a terribly bleak meditation on aging and not terribly suitable for kids who aren’t in the middle of an existential crisis, which may be an odd assessment to some considering I’m talking about 
There’s something oh so juvenile but oh so fun about having 
The 25th anniversaries are coming fast and furious, as hot on the heels of Back To The Future comes 
A few years ago, mentalist/sorcerer supreme Derren Brown released a book that provided tantalizing glimpses into his life but largely served as a sort of overview to the methodology behind his magic. Now, however, he’s returned with a proper autobiography, 
A few years back, when the 
It’s not nearly as enjoyable or as cohesive as Band Of Brothers, but there’s still plenty of fascinating history – and accompanying visuals – to be had in its follow-up mini-series, 
It’s a growing trend to create books packed with reproductions of ephemera, and you can add the Harry Potter film franchise to that list with the release of 
I’ve made it this far in my life without ever having seen 
Just in time for the holidays – and hot on the heels of his stage comeback – you can pick up the complete 5-season run of 
It’s a big ol’ festive mess of a film, but I have a special place in my heart for 
Join photographer Murray Fredericks as he travels into the remote, dangerous, formidable, and breathtakingly beautiful Lake Eyre, a massive salt lake in the north corner of South Australia. The documentary, 
It’s clearly Robert Rodriguez’s attempt to make the same impact on the Predator franchise that James Cameron made with Aliens, but Rodriguez’s 
My unwavering love for Star Wars has wavered quite a bit since George Lucas slapped us with the prequels, but occasionally something comes along that reignites that enthusiasm, if only for a brief time. One of those flares came when flipping through 
There may be only one Highlander, but they made the unfortunate decision to follow up the decent fantasy flick 
A sci-fi schlock classic makes its DVD debut as 
It’s not spaceflight or Everest, but using IMAX to shoot and present the works of Vincent van Gogh’s paintings is certainly a unique, and interesting, use of the format, as shown in 
When he’s not busy giving directions to a god of thunder, Kenneth Branagh has been starring as Inspector Kurt Wallander in the BBC’s latest mystery series 
If you want to look at a dull, lifeless reimagining, look no further than the awkward tedium that is 
I have been counting the days until the high definition 25th Anniversary edition of the 
If there’s one thing this gadget crazy future we currently live in has taught me, it’s how to tie a sailor’s knot. No. Scratch that. What I meant to say, is that it’s taught me that you can never have to many USB ports, and that’s where Thinkgeek’s ridiculous 
By the time we reach the third volume of 
About 5 years ago, I became aware that a documentary had been made about an artist I held dear to my heart – the underrated, underappreciated Harry Nilsson. I received a promo copy at the time, and found the documentary to be a comprehensive, enlightening overview of a brilliant artist beloved by friends and fans (including the likes of The Beatles) who happened to be a very flawed human being whose excess led to a far too early death. The doc floated around the festival circuit for the past few years, but 
I know a lot of you are probably waiting for next year’s Blu-Ray release of the entirety of season 4, but for those who can’t wait, 
It’s been almost a year since the Blu-Ray Ultimate Editions of the first two films were released, but the rather long wait has brought us the just-in-time for Deathly Hallows: Part 1 release of 
It’s been 6 years since their first textbook, America, but Jon Stewart and the writers behind The Daily Show return with their follow-up 
I didn’t think a film about Jack Kevorkian starring Al Pacino would be something I would watch, let along think was remarkably good, but 
Every few months like clockwork, I’m guaranteed that a delightfully fun read will land on my doorstep, for that is what the periodic arrival Charles Schulz’s masterpiece has become. We’re now up to 
Scholastic has opened up the vault and provided a pair of releases perfect for entertaining your kids on those dark, cold Fall & Winter nights. Seasonally, they’re releasing 
It’s awkward to think about all of the families he was creating while 
For anyone who feared that their favorite TV show, left partially-released on DVD, would never see those final seasons, Shout Factory has proven themselves a savior, as their latest batch of TV releases testifies – Titles like 
If you weren’t quick enough to grab the complete first season when it was available – or just want a cheaper alternative for a few episodes – the 4th volume of episodes from the first season of 
Try as they might, and as good as Jackie Earle Haley is in the role of Freddy Krueger, the remakagining of 
I am clearly not the audience for 
The visual style was based on the artwork of Charles Addams, so there’s plenty to be said for Hanna-Barbera’s take on 
I thought one sequel was pushing it, but the fact that we’re now on 
Seeking to make sense of over a month of madness, everyone’s favorite intensely opinionated comedian returns with 
A pair of classy shows make their way to high definition, with the highlight being the release of David Suchet as the titular detective in 
I personally can’t stand the man or his reality series, but there are plenty of fans out there who will probably dive right into the 
Hell has finally frozen over and swine fly through the skies, as 
Sometimes, I love gadgets that are completely and utterly useless to me personally. As I don’t work in an office, or in a cubicle, the 
When I wasn’t playing with Transformers in early 80’s, I was usually playing with the dozens of GI Joe figures I had hounded my parents incessantly for. Yes, that means I also was a daily viewer of the episodes contained in 
Twomorrows’ always wonderful artist spotlight series turns its eye towards yet another worthy illustrator with 
Amongst the many documentaries hitting DVD to tie in with the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, near the top of the “must watch” list is the new high definition transfer of filmmaker Al Reinert’s documentary 
Most shows suffer in their sophomore season, but it’s always nice when a program bucks the trend and turns in a stellar outing – and such is the case with 
If you’re keen on quick, easy, one-stop shopping to get all of the classic Peanuts specials you remember so well, I urge you to snag a copy of 
There are over 16 hours of vintage ads contained in 
The 11th season of the now-departed 
It was never must-see TV for me, but whenever I’d see Andy Griffith as lawyer Ben Matlock, it felt like hot cocoa and a warm, almost smothering blanket. Fans can lay their hands upon 
Just in time for the porous yellow one’s 100th episode festivities comes the CD release of 
Yes, I admit to being a person who occasionally gets sucked into The Discovery Channel’s annual Shark Week celebrations. But what to do the other 51 weeks of the year? Well, now you can dive into the 2-disc 
The penultimate adventure for young Harry Potter (well, in the books, anyway – there’s still two more films to go) finds events becoming much darker, and Nicholas Hooper’s score to 
Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange tackle the roles of “Big Edie” and “Little Edie” Bouvier Beale in the engaging adaptation of the now legendary documentary revealing their sad, eccentric, privileged lives, 
The first season of the TNT original 
Tick another show off the list, as we get the release of the eighth and final season of 
Get over the laughable “based on a true story” tag, and 
I have no emotional attachment whatsoever to 
You know what? Between you and me, the less said about 
It’s nice to know that we live in a world where a quirky show like 